Olympia & York

Olympia & York (also spelled as Olympia and York, abbreviated as O&Y) was a major international property development firm based in Canada. The firm built major financial office complexes including Canary Wharf in London, the World Financial Center in New York City, and First Canadian Place in Toronto. It went bankrupt in the early 1990s and was recreated to eventually become Olympia & York Properties.

The company was founded by Paul Reichmann and his brothers, Albert and Ralph, in Toronto in the early 1950s as an outgrowth of their flooring and tile company. It first built and operated warehouses and other commercial buildings in Toronto. Its first major project was the development of the vast Flemingdon Park project on Don Mills Road.

The company then took a major gamble, winning the fierce bidding war for the final undeveloped property at the corner of King and Bay street (the geographic heart of Canada's financial district). The Reichmans won the contract to build Canada's tallest building, First Canadian Place in 1971. The project almost collapsed, however, when reformist mayor David Crombie put a halt to major development projects. After three years of lobbying the project finally went ahead to great success.

In the 1980s, Olympia & York grew to be the largest property development firm in the world. In the early 1980s, the New York real estate market was severely depressed, and the Reichmanns bought a group of nine skyscrapers for the low price of 300 million dollars. In only a few years the group rose in value to 3.5 billion. The company became centred on New York opening an office on Park Avenue. The company won the rights to the largest development project in the city when they were awarded the contract to develop the Battery Park City infill next door to the World Trade Center. This project became the World Financial Center and was another great success for the firm.

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